Yeah But… The Sun Doesn’t Shine at Night

This is another common throwaway line I hear from denialists and fossil fuel defenders. It’s usually served with a smirk, as if it’s some kind of mic drop. And sure, on the surface, it sounds like a gotcha: “If solar and wind are so good, what happens when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing?”

But here’s the thing. That argument might have worked in 2005. It doesn’t work in 2025.

🌞 Personal proof: my house runs 24/7 on sunshine

Let’s start with lived experience. My family has rooftop solar and a battery. It’s not a dream. It’s our daily reality. Our system generates clean electricity during the day, powers our house, charges our cars, stores the excess, and then runs everything - lights, fridge, cooking, devices - through the night on battery power. Even on cloudy days, we rarely need to draw from the grid. And we still feed surplus electricity back into the system to help power our neighbours.

We live in Canberra. It’s not a tropical climate. But we live 24/7 on solar.

🔋 The tech is here - and it works

Australia leads the world in rooftop solar, and we’re now rapidly building the second half of the clean energy system: storage, smart grids, and flexibility. Here’s how it works:

1. Grid-scale batteries like the Waratah Super Battery (850 MW) and Hornsdale Power Reserve in SA are already stabilising our grid, soaking up excess solar and dispatching power when needed. Pumped Hydro like the Snowy scheme will add to this.

2. Home batteries are increasingly common. With rebates and smarter tech, they’re becoming more affordable - and they reduce peak demand.

3. Wind power is strongest in the evenings and overnight, complementing solar. It doesn’t need to blow everywhere all the time - it just needs to blow somewhere. The grid connects it all.

4. Demand management means running things like EV chargers, industrial refrigeration or pool pumps when clean power is plentiful. Software does this automatically. No lifestyle change needed.

5. Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) will be a game changer. As we switch to electric cars, millions of parked EVs will double as backup batteries. Most cars sit idle 90% of the time. Soon they’ll support the grid, not just draw from it.

🧠 The old fossil fuel logic doesn’t add up

Let’s flip the question: how does coal or gas deal with supply shocks, blackouts, or global price spikes? Unlike solar and wind, fossil fuels are vulnerable - to conflict, supply chain disruption, and climate disasters. And they’re expensive. The real difference is this: solar and wind are predictable, and getting smarter. Fossil fuels are volatile, polluting, and based on 20th century thinking.

🛑 Stop pretending the grid hasn’t changed

Saying “solar doesn’t work at night” is like saying electric cars don’t work because there aren’t enough petrol stations. Like EVs which no longer need petrol, the system is changing. Fast. We’re building a 21st century grid - clean, flexible, digital. The old excuses don’t hold.

✅ A hopeful reality

We already have the tools. We just need to deploy them faster. Thousands of Aussie households like mine are already proving the concept at individual household and community levels. Australia’s engineers and planners know what’s needed. Communities are on board. The only thing lagging behind is fossil-fuel politics and dinosaurs.

So to anyone who still trots out the “sun doesn’t shine at night” line: You’re right. But that doesn’t stop my house from running 24/7 on solar. And soon, it won’t stop the nation either.